


War is for Children

by Coal_burningbright



Series: Kids made of Iron [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, F/M, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Peter Parker Dies, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coal_burningbright/pseuds/Coal_burningbright
Summary: People say that children aren’t soldiers and if that was true then Peter hadn’t been a child in a long time.War is for children, it's just no one wants to admit it.
Relationships: (probably MJ), May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker/Unnamed Charecter, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Unnamed Female charecter
Series: Kids made of Iron [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962460
Comments: 14
Kudos: 79





	War is for Children

People said that war wasn’t for children like children hadn’t been fighting for as long as they could.

Peter got into fights on elementary school playgrounds where the fights were really just him standing in front of some other kid and waiting till the bully left so he could help the kid up and tell them it would be okay.

Peter Parker was six years old when he came home to his uncle’s house with scraped knees. He was staying with his aunt and uncle for a week while his parents were away.

Peter didn’t fight to hide his tears at his parents funeral.

Peter Parker read Tony Stark's papers alone in the library and just smiled at the librarian when she asked if he needed help.

Peter was thirteen when he saw a story on the news about a fifteen year old lobbying the government for better laws on gun control. 

Peter Parker was thirteen when a man shot his uncle in a dark alley. 

Peter Parker didn’t rage at the people around him because that would be wrong. Hurt people hurt people but he would not make more people hurt.

Peter didn’t fight back against Flash because he could take it and what if Flash went after someone who couldn't. 

Peter was fourteen when he donned a sweatshirt with a symbol taped on it and leaped out his window.

When Peter was fourteen he met his hero Dr. Tony Stark, he got a new suit and a number to call and tell about what he did when he fought. Peter never thought Mr. Stark would want him to call for anything else.

When he was fifteen Peter Parker had a building crash down on him and got his date’s dad arrested. 

People say that children aren’t soldiers and if that was true then Peter hadn’t been a child in a long time.

War is for children, it's just no one wants to admit it. 

Peter Parker sat in the bathroom late at night with school the next day and he sewed up dagger wounds. Now no one else would lose their mom, their dad, their uncle, their hope. 

Peter hid the bags under his eyes and passed all his classes. 

He began talking to Mr. Stark a little more and once a month they would meet up in the lab. 

He should have known better than to think it would last.

When Peter Parker was sixteen he went to space. 

He was dying. He was sixteen and his body was disintegrating and he held Mr. Stark close and he thought at least he’d see his parents and Ben again.

He was sixteen and the doctor guy was saying they need us and was he going to be reincarnated? 

And then Mr. Stark was there.

And then he wasn’t.

Peter Parker gained and he lost and he gained and he lost and he just _kept. losing. everyone_.

Peter Parker was sixteen when he went home to May and didn’t tell her that he had just realized the cost of being a soldier.

Instead he went home to find May living with someone and having mourned him and he couldn’t bear to make her mourn him again so he went and cried into Pepper’s arms.

Then he got to work. 

He told Morgan all about his times with her dad so that she could have those pieces left. 

He went out every day from dusk to early morning, the rest of the days he spent studying.

 _Do well and make me proud_ Mr. Stark had told him once. 

_I will_ he thought

_I will_

Maybe Tony Stark would have been proud to see the boy he considered a son throwing himself into battle after battle, a footsoldier in a war he never should have been a part of.

Maybe he wouldn’t have been.

Peter would never know until he had given his all, so he did.

Peter Parker was eighteen when his girlfriend broke up with him. 

She told him he needed to pick, either go on one date a week with her and sleep in the same bed three nights a week or go back to half naps on rooftops.

He chose the city.

 _This is War_ , he’d told her as he jumped out their window for the last time. _War for the children_.

 _You are still a child_ , she’d replied. 

_If no one else fights then I must_ , he’d said, leaving before she could answer

Peter Parker was twenty-two when Morgan gave her first interview. 

He watched her talk with grace and poise about how much she’d loved her father and he wished he’d gotten to grow up with a dad.

He threw himself into making the world safe for her.

Peter Parker was twenty-five when he bled out on a cold street. 

_This is a war_ , he thought

_I hope Mr. Stark is proud_

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this please kudos and comment! I'm on tumblr @genderfluid-and-confuzled!


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